ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
National Conference on Methodology of Crop Estimation held
The Directorate of Economics and Statistics , Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare  under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers organised a Conference on Estimation of Crop Production in New Delhi on July 13, 2022. The Conference was inaugurated by Shri. Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
This conference aimed at discussion about various methodologies used by different agencies for crop estimation, sharing their best practices and to tri-angulate the reasons for variation between the estimates generated by different agencies and the way forward to generate responsible agricultural crop estimates.
Around 300 participants from various fields such as Central Ministries / Departments, State Governments, Private agencies involved in Crop Estimation and FAO participated in the conference. There were 3 sessions focusing on estimation methodology adopted by Government, Private Agencies and Best Practices being followed by few states.
The presentations made covered various systems using different methodologies which either had a widespread coverage of geography and crops or limited to few crops and regions. The crop estimation methodology used by the Central Government is widespread and covers the highest number of crop for production estimation, the Mahalanobis Crop Forecasting Centre  uses remote sensing through satellite imagery for crop estimation and the Institute of Economic Growth uses econometric modelling for the estimation of various crops in the country. The states have developed over time their own geo-referenced IT enabled database portal driven method of crop estimation. The private players use mix and match of various means and technology to provide crop estimates as per the market need and have predominantly commodity specific and client needs driven. However, the private players are increasing the scope in the field of crop estimation with rising participation of private players in the agriculture sector.
Since the estimates released in public domain have impact on the market sentiments, prices, consumer preferences and other factors, through this conference an attempt was made to triangulate mid-point where all these estimates and methodology would converge and pave the way for generation of responsible estimates in the way forward.
Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation
MDWS marks World Water Day with water management workshop
On the occasion of World Water Day on 22nd March 2019, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation organised a two day National Workshop on Management of Grey Water in Rural Areas and Arsenic and Fluoride Remediation  in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology  Madras with support from UNICEF India.
The plenary session of the Workshop was addressed by Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and Director, IIT Madras Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthy. Highlights of the first day and proceeding of the second day of the Workshop are as under.
Speaking at the workshop, Secretary Shri Iyer said that after achieving good sanitation coverage under Swachh Bharat Mission, the country is transiting from ODF  to ODF+ status and to sustain ODF status. Significant research and technology inputs are required to have standards for grey water discharge, and local level manageable low cost solutions for its management. The workshop included discussions on the need for integration of policy, research, technology and skill development for effective grey water management in rural areas.
On Day 2, an overview and policy aspects on water affected with arsenic and fluoride were presented, including policy level interventions to address the arsenic and fluoride contamination, health effects and communication strategies for creating awareness at community level about the adverse effects of these contaminations.
The session on greywater policy discussed the international and national and policies on grey water and its relevance to Indian context. Emphasis was made on setting standards for grey water reuse for agriculture and groundwater recharge.
Various technologies, ranging from a simple soak pits, phyto-remedition to membrane based grey water treatment were discussed. It was emphasised that the technologies to be adopted in rural areas need to be simple, require less skill level for construction, operation and maintenance.
In the States' session, State Governments of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab presented their experience on managing the grey water in rural areas. Accessing financial resources by integrating different schemes for construction of grey water recharge structures and beneficial health and economic aspects were highlighted.
The technologies session for arsenic and fluoride contamination focussed on different available technologies to remove localised arsenic/fluoride like terra fill to advanced ones like nano technology based solutions, membrane technologies and community based approach for fluoride remediation. Five States affected with arsenic/fluoride - West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan - made presentations on strategied to provide contaminant free potable water.
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Prime Minister's Office
PM chairs meeting to review planning and preparations for vaccination against Covid-19
PM lists four guiding principles that will form the foundation of this national effort
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today chaired a high-level meeting to review the planning and preparations for vaccination against Covid-19, as and when the vaccine is available.
Prime Minister noted that vaccination of India’s vast and diverse population will need to factor in issues including those related to management of medical supply chains, prioritization of at-risk populations, coordination between different agencies involved in the process, as well as the role of private sector and civil society in this national endeavour.
Prime Minister enunciated four guiding principles that will form the foundation of this national effort: first, that vulnerable groups should be identified and prioritized for early vaccination, for example doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, non-medical frontline corona warriors, and vulnerable people among the general population; second, that vaccination of “anyone, anywhere” should take place, ie without imposition of any domicile related restrictions for getting the vaccine; third, that vaccination must be affordable and universal - no person should be left behind; and fourth, that the entire process from production to vaccination should be monitored and supported in real time with the use of technology.
PM directed officials to evaluate in a broad manner available technology options that can form the backbone of the national endeavor to vaccinate all in the most efficient and timely manner.
Prime Minister directed that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately.
The current status of vaccine development efforts were also reviewed at the meeting. Prime Minister highlighted India’s commitment to play an enabling role in the vaccination efforts against Covid-19.
Ministry of Steel
NMDC reports record-breaking production for the period up to July 2023
National Miner on way towards becoming a 100 Million Tonnes mining company
National Mineral Development Corporation , a Navratna miner under the Ministry of Steel, has reported record-breaking production for the period up to July 2023. The National Miner has delivered record performances in FY24 so far and is paving the way towards becoming a 100 MT  mining company. NMDC is also gearing up to surpass its historic production of 40 MT for two fiscals in a row.
The company produced 13.15 million tonnes and sold 14.18 million tonnes of iron ore upto July 2023, showing a year-on-year growth of 20% and 33.5% in production and sales respectively. In July alone, the mining major produced 2.44 million tonnes and sold 3.03 million tonnes of iron ore, showing a month-on-month growth of 19% and 2.7% in production and sales respectively.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
220.65 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
7,530 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 7,605
Active cases stand at 0.02%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.79%
718 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,41,60,997
1,300 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
92.06 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 89,078 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles loss of lives in plane crash in Indonesia
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief over the loss of lives in plane crash in Indonesia.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate plane crash in Indonesia. India stands with Indonesia in this hour of grief."
Prime Minister's Office
PM praises the role of the armed forces in the fight against COVID-19
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has praised the role of the armed forces in the fight against COVID-19.
Referring to a write up by Shri Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri, titled “Fighting the Invisible Enemy: MoD’s Response on COVID-19 Surge”,the Prime Minister said in a tweet:
'Jal', 'Thal' and 'Nabh'...our armed forces have left no stone unturned in strengthening the fight against COVID-19.”
Election Commission
General Elections 2019 for Kerala to be held in the third phase on April 23rd, 2019
|
|
YEAR
|
|
MALE
|
|
FEMALE
|
|
THIRD GENDER
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
2014
|
|
11442925
|
|
12349345
|
|
0
|
|
23792270
|
|
2019
|
|
12684839
|
|
13466521
|
|
174
|
|
26151534
The State of Kerala will go to the polls in Phase 3 of the General Elections on April 23rd 2019. All 20 Parliamentary constituencies in the state are scheduled to go to polls in a single phase. The State has a total electorate of 2,61,51,534 out of which 1,26,84,839 are male electors, 1,34,66,521 are female electors and 174 belong to third gender category. There are 24,970 polling stations set up in the state.
There are a total of 227 candidates  in the fray.
Political party wise distribution of contesting candidates for the forthcoming polls in Kerala.
|
|
No. of Parliamentary Constituencies
|
|
20 
|
|
Total :20
|
|
Contesting Party details:
|
|
Party
|
|
No. of Contesting Candidates
|
|
BJP
|
|
15
|
|
INC
|
|
16
|
|
CPI 
|
|
14
|
|
CPI
|
|
4
|
|
BSP
|
|
16
|
|
IUML
|
|
2
|
|
Kerala Congress 
|
|
1
|
|
RSP
|
|
1
|
|
Independents
|
|
111
|
|
others
|
|
47
|
|
No. of candidates
|
|
Total:227
|
|
Women candidates: 25
The seats won by the political parties which participated in the General Elections in 2014 and their vote shares in the state of Kerala are given below:
|
|
No of Parliamentary Constituencies
|
|
Total: 20 SC:2 ST:0
|
|
Contested Party Details
|
|
Main Parties
|
|
Seat Won in 2014
|
|
Percentage of Votes polled in 2014
|
|
Indian National Congress 
|
|
8
|
|
31%
|
|
Communist Party of India -CPI
|
|
5
|
|
22%
|
|
Indian Union Muslim League 
|
|
2
|
|
5%
|
|
Communist Party of India 
|
|
1
|
|
8%
|
|
Kerala Congress 
|
|
1
|
|
2%
|
|
Revolutionary Socialist Party 
|
|
1
|
|
2%
|
|
Independents
|
|
2 
|
|
12% 
|
|
Bharatiya Janata Party 
|
|
0
|
|
10%
|
|
SJD
|
|
0
|
|
2%
|
|
JD
|
|
0
|
|
2%
|
|
SDPI
|
|
0
|
|
2%
|
|
AAP
|
|
0
|
|
1%
Seats won by parties in SC constituencies in General Election 2014
|
|
S.No.
|
|
Constituency
|
|
Category
|
|
Winner
|
|
Social Category
|
|
Party
|
|
1
|
|
Alathur
|
|
SC
|
|
P.K.Biju
|
|
SC
|
|
CPI 
|
|
2
|
|
Mavelikkara
|
|
SC
|
|
Kodikunnil Suresh
|
|
SC
|
|
INC
Interesting titbits : Kerala
Ministry of Defence
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare signs an MoU with private sector to generate employment for Veterans
A Memorandum of Understanding  was signed between Directorate General Resettlement  under Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence and M/s Genpact India Private Limited on 31 August, 2023 in New Delhi. The MoU between DGR and Corporates endeavors to bring the corporate companies and Ex-Servicemen on a common platform to generate employment opportunities for the esteemed Ex-Servicemen of the Defence Services.
Genpact, a global leader in professional services, would provide meaningful career opportunities for Veterans. Maj Gen Sharad Kapur, Director General  said, “This partnership would bring in more visibility of our Ex-servicemen to the industry and corporates and help in achieving the objectives of providing skilled manpower and giving a dignified second career to our Ex-servicemen”.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Dr. Harsh Vardhan writes to Ministers of Law &Justice, and Social Justice & Empowerment for amending 108 discriminatory laws against persons affected by Leprosy
Also writes to Chief Ministers of 23 States/UTs for amending such laws in their States
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare today wrotea letterto the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment,Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking amendment of the existing discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy.“It will be a befitting tribute to the Father of the Nation on his 150th Birth Anniversary if we can expedite the process and introduction of the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy  Bill, which was drafted by the Law Commission of India and annexed in its 256th Report”, Dr Harsh Vardhan wrote in his letter to the two Union Ministers.
In his letter, Dr Harsh Vardhan further wrote that “Even though the disease is now fully curable,it is disturbing to learn that there still exist 108 discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy including 3 Union and 105 State laws”. He stated that theNational Leprosy Eradication Programme  has achieved enormous success in leprosy control, particularly in the last four decades. “In addition to the routine activities, more than a dozeninnovations were introduced from 2016 onwards in a phased manner to address the issuesbeing faced by the programme. Majorly, Leprosy Case Detection Campaign  , Focussed Leprosy Campaign , Special plan for case detection in hard toreach areas, ASHA based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects  have contributed to early casedetection. In addition, Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign  is implemented to reducestigma against persons affected by Leprosy in the community.These innovations have given the much needed impetus to the programme. Moreover, leprosy has become fully curable by Multi–Drug Therapy . This therapy is available free of cost at all the Government health care facilities in the country”. A leprosy affected person after treatment does not transmit the disease agent. Hence, there exists no justification for the continued stigmatization of the persons affected by leprosy, Dr Harsh Vardhan stressed.
Requesting for proactively taking steps to redress this wrong, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that India is committed for justice and equality of all individuals including persons with disabilities as per the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . He also mentioned that the target of Global Leprosy Strategy, 2016 – 2020 is to reduce the number of countries with laws allowing discrimination on the ground of leprosy to zero.
In his letter to the Chief Ministers of 23 States/UTs , Dr Harsh Vardhan requested them to earnestly look into the matter and direct all the concerned departments/ officers to work for the amendments of the existing discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy. The Union Health Minister also outlined the discriminatory laws that need to be amended in the States.
President's Secretariat
President of India Pays Floral Tributes to Shri V.V. Giri on his Birth Anniversary
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, paid floral tributes to Shri V.V. Giri, former President of India, on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan today .
The President, the family members of Shri V. V. Giri, officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan, paid floral tributes in front of the portrait of Shri V.V. Giri.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID - 19 Vaccination Update - Day 371
India’s cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 161.05 crore
More than 58 lakh Vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 161.05 Crore  today. More than 58 lakh  Vaccine Doses have been administered till 7 pm today. More than 74 lakh  Precaution Doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries for COVID vaccination have been administered so far. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight.
The cumulative coverage of vaccine doses, segregated based on population priority groups, is as follows:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
10391425
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
9809373
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
2567725
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18390369
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
17116717
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
2463948
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
40475299
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
532394122
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
383629166
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
198758741
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
165163237
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
123861185
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
103145865
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
2396027
|
|
Cumulative 1st dose administered
|
|
924271141
|
|
Cumulative 2nd dose administered
|
|
678864358
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
7427700
|
|
Total
|
|
1610563199
Today’s achievement in the vaccination exercise, segregated by population priority groups, is as follows:
|
|
Date: 21st January, 2022 
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
333
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
6589
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
119783
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
440
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
11896
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
182293
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
820392
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
942224
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
2239848
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
145242
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
648208
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
97969
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
370601
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
251391
|
|
Cumulative 1st dose administered
|
|
2006600
|
|
Cumulative 2nd dose administered
|
|
3277142
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
553467
|
|
Total
|
|
5837209
The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
POSHAN Abhiyaan
POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8th March 2018 with an aim to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children under 6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. POSHAN Abhiyaan addresses malnutrition issues across the nation through components like ICT Application, Convergence, Community Mobilization, Behavioural Change & Jan Andolan, Capacity Building, Incentives and Awards, and Innovations.
Further, Mission Poshan 2.0, an integrated nutrition support programme which subsumes Supplementary Nutrition Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan, has been announced in budget 2021-2022 for all States/UTs to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have also been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under Poshan Tracker a robust ICT enabled platform, to improve governance with regard to real time monitoring and provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervisions and management of services. The Abhiyaan empowers Anganwadi workers and Lady Supervisors by providing them with smart phones, and Growth Monitoring Devices . Further, Guidelines were issued for transparency and accountability in delivery of supplementary nutrition and to track nutritional outcomes on 13.01.2021.
The Abhiyaan has been rolled out in all the 36 States/UTs covering all the Districts across the country.
This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India scales a historic PEAK, records all-time High of DAILY TESTING
For the first time, close to 15 lakh COVID tests conducted in a single day
Exponential Rise in Total Tests as they near 7 cr
India has scaled a historic peak in the fight against COVID-19. In a landmark achievement, for the first time, a record of very high number of nearly 15 lakh COVID tests has been conducted in a single day.
With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore .
This exponential surge in the daily testing capacities strongly demonstrates the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country.
The last one crore tests were conducted in merely 9 days.
The Tests Per Million  stand at 49,948 as of today.
Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently leads to lowered positivity rate. States that are testing the highest numbers are also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate.
The national cumulative positivity rate stands at 8.44% today.
With the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States/UTs has also increased. 23 States/UTs have better tests per million than the national average .
As reiterated by the Prime Minister, as he reviewed the status and preparedness of 7 States/UTs with high burden of caseload recently, testing forms an integral pillar of COVID response and management. The Centre’s three-pronged strategy of ‘TEST TRACK TREAT’ begins with testing. CHASE THE VIRUS approach of the Union Government aims to catch every missing person through testing to curb spread of the infection. Several measures have been taken by the Union Government through calibrated steps to widen the testing net and ensure easier and more accessible testing by all across the country. States/UTs have been empowered with flexibility to ensure higher testing. They have been advised that all symptomatic negatives of Rapid Antigen Tests are mandatorily subjected to RT-PCR.
Expanded diagnostic lab network has given a sharp boost to the enhanced testing numbers.
The testing network has grown to 1818 labs today, including 1084 labs in the government sector and 734 private labs. These include:
• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 923 
• TrueNat based testing labs: 769 
• CBNAAT based testing labs: 126